Instead of the normal blog post contemplating one topic, I thought I’d share a slice of my daily internal monologue. In advance, I both warn and agree with you: Yes, I will most likely question myself into an early grave.

New York City is wonderful for meandering, one of my favorite ‘activities’. It’s also a great place to take a little time-out inside your head – surprising considering how many people surround you at any given moment.

Today, while wandering, these were a few little thoughts to cross my mind:

– Is it better to be a loyal but bad friend, or not be a friend at
all? Is breaking a friendship more hurtful than pretending to like and
appreciate the other person?

– If someone does you a favor that you know you can’t return, is it okay to accept said favor?

– When I do something I know is ‘right’, but do it grudgingly and
with irritation, does it count? Does it still make me a better person?
(My mom would say N-O)

– Did I shove the fidgety woman on the subway platform or did she shove me? Ah, well. Sorry lady!

If anyone has answers to these musings, send them my way. In the interim, I’ll keep chugging away to find some answers…

Everyday Ethics is a place to discuss how we live a good life and finish well in a technology-driven, culturally-diverse, rapidly changing 21st century environment where “good” and “well” are considered by many to be relative concepts.

Padmini Mangunta

Padmini Mangunta is a writer and editor with a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In addition to writing for a various print and online publications, such as Parenting Magazine and iVillage, she was the Website Manager for the Henry Street Settlement, a social services and arts organization serving Manhattan's Lower East Side. Most recently, she worked on the Thai-Myanmar border as a writer for the Burma Human Rights Yearbook.

Her curiosity about human nature, coupled with duel streaks of idealism and Midwestern pragmatism, developed into an ongoing discussion with friends, family and strangers on ethical quandaries.

When she's not asking "Why?" you might have trouble finding her, as her hobbies include nosing around used bookstores, exploring the world (near and far), meeting new people and occasionally twiddling her thumbs while daydreaming.